January 12, 2013

Vegetable Upma

Vegetable upma

While writing a recipe, I usually google up the main ingredient to know about its health benefits so I can include it in my post. When I was writing this recipe, I found out that sooji (semolina) is a rich source of protein and that the plant pigments (beta-carotene) found in sooji help boost our immune system. I tried to include sooji in Devansh's diet when he was around 9 months old. At that time I did not know the exact benefits of sooji. All I knew was that sooji has been part of our diet for generations and that it is good for health. And so I was keen that Devansh eats it. However, getting Devansh to like sooji was a challenge. I tried to get him to eat sooji ka halwa when he was around 9-10 months of age and he didn’t like it. So I gave him upma, which I made without using chili powder. He didn’t like the bland upma. After 3-4 attemps of feeding him sooji halwa and upma I gave up. After he was one and a half, I decided to give it one more shot. This time I used chili powder to make the upma spicy and instead of just adding mashed vegetables in the upma I sauted them in (powdered) jeeratadka. And voila…Devansh started eating upma. Hope your li'l one enjoys this upma. :-)

Roast the sooji on low flame for about 5 minutes while stirring continuously.

When the sooji has just started to turn light brown, add 1 tbsp ghee.

Roast the sooji on ghee for a couple of minutes while stirring continuously.

Add 2 cups of water.

Add red chili powder and salt, and stir properly. (You can use less or no red chili powder if your baby’s smaller or is not used to spicy food.)

Bring the sooji to a boil, then lower the flame and allow it to simmer till it reaches the desired consistency. For smaller babies, you will need to make the upma slightly runny.

Heat another pan.

Add ghee and immediately add jeera powder.

Stir the jeera powder for a minute, and then add haldi and hing.

Add mashed vegetables and stir for a minute. If you don’t have mashed vegetables ready with you and want to use fresh vegetables, boil them properly and then mash them finely or coarsely depending on your baby’s age.

4
comments:

Hi Mukta,Would like to really thank you for this recipe. My 17 month old son is really picky at eating, and he actually liked this upma. i had to coax him to taste it at first, but after the first bite he wanted more .. nothing makes a mom happier than seeing her baby eat :)

So glad your son liked the upma Sophiya... totally agree with you...even now when Devansh is 2.7 years old...each time he finishes his meal I heave a sigh of relief...I don't think that's gonna go away even after they get older :)